updated 02:25 pm EST, Wed January 6, 2010

AT&T chief commits to Palm's new line

As part of its smartphone app push, AT&T today also confirmed at its Developer Summit that it will add two Palm phones running webOS to its roster. CEO Ralph de la Vega didn't provide details of the phones but does say they should arrive in the first half of the year. The news is the first official confirmation of webOS phones in the US outside of Sprint.

As Palm is expected to use its CES keynote tomorrow to add Verizon phones, de la Vega's statements suggest the event will introduce the Pixi Plus and Pre Plus not just to the other main CDMA carrier but also to AT&T and possibly others as well.

Palm has been struggling to preserve share in recent months as its exclusivity deal with Sprint has negated some of the popularity of phones like the Pre. While rivals like Apple and Motorola have benefited from exclusive deals, their choices of larger, more popular carriers has regularly offset the limitations affecting Palm.